Deciding whether an options rule is worth trading

the options verdict

The written decision against the standing hurdles - net of the heavy costs, bucketed not averaged, mechanism-backed, defined risk - plus options' own gates: the payoff shape acceptable (does the outcome distribution's shape suit the account, not just its weighted average), and the instrument comparison (would the underlying express this view more cheaply). Most options rules fail - to costs, to the tail sample, to the underlying being the better instrument - and the machinery is working when they do.